I haven’t bought tires in a while, but it’s about time for a new set.
I have a Kia Soul! with 18” wheels.
Costco has some Bridgestones and Firestones on sale.
Here are my deets.
Mostly in town driving with a few longer trips thrown in but no more than 3-5 times a year, best guess.
I don’t drive aggressively, if that’s a factor.
I would say I like a smooth ride over sport handling, at this point in my life.
Only caveat is I Hate run flat tires.

Any suggestions for tires?

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

Check out Tirerack.com for ratings and reviews on various tires. In addition to Tire Rack, compare Costco with Discount Tire (if you have them in your area) or maybe some other local/chain tire shops. In my area, I like Belle Tire but they probably aren't in your locale. Costco has decent prices for good tires, especially when you catch a sale, but you may find a better price elsewhere. Also, Costco simply does not sell bargain tires. You probably don't want bargain tires anyway unless you're close to getting rid of your car, but if you do then Costco is not the place to go.

You can't go wrong with Michelin Defenders, but they're pretty expensive and ultimately, for the driving you do (and in a southern climate), just about anything will be fine.

Check TireRack.com [www.tirerack.com]

They have a make/model/year/wheel size selector with recommendations for your vehicle.
I used them last spring to buy 3 season radials and their price was excellent, and the tires have been great!
I use studded snows for late fall thru early spring (Maine, dontcha know).

The Vredesteins [www.vredestein.com] had excellent tread wear, temperature rating, and tire noise ratings.
i had never heard of them, but TireRack had a special on them, shipped them to me direct, and the dealer had no problem with mounting/balancing them when the studded snows had to come off (1 May).

I recommend Tire Rack and hope you find the site useful in your quest!

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=TC

I agree to look at Tirerack.com to see evaluations. Then I buy them at Costco, trying to catch something on sale. Their warranty is great and, in my experience, they are pretty liberal with replacements. They do free rotations.

It can take a while to get them installed, however. I try to buy tires before it's critical and so make an appointment to have them installed first thing in the morning. That might be a couple of weeks down the road, but it does help with the speed of installation. At our Costco you can enter through the returns door and get to the Tire Center a few minutes early.

Another vote here for Discount Tire. I have found their prices are comparable to Costco, and they seem much more 'available' in term of getting appointments and getting service (like later free rotations.) Our Costcos always seem incredibly busy.

And Discount can probably offer a dozen choices (which may be too many!) but you can see the offerings. Again Costco usually has no more than two choices in a size.

You might consider going with a smaller wheel, even a 16" or 17". You will be able to get taller sidewalls which usually result in a smoother ride.

Additionally, 16"/17" tires are usually cheaper, so the savings might pay for new wheels. You will probably have plenty of possible buyers for your 18s.

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San Antonio, TX (in the old city)


"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
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Bridgestones at Costco sound groovy. They are a good tire. Costco service can't be beat.

Quote
Rolando
You might consider going with a smaller wheel, even a 16" or 17". You will be able to get taller sidewalls which usually result in a smoother ride.

Additionally, 16"/17" tires are usually cheaper, so the savings might pay for new wheels. You will probably have plenty of possible buyers for your 18s.

OMG. He's asking for tire recommendations and you are steering him towards different sized WHEELS on a Kia Soul.

How many miles do you drive a year?

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Quote
mattkime
How many miles do you drive a year?

Yep, I forgot to put that in the deets.
Maybe around 5-7K a year, so low mileage.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

Quote
Rolando
You might consider going with a smaller wheel, even a 16" or 17". You will be able to get taller sidewalls which usually result in a smoother ride.

Additionally, 16"/17" tires are usually cheaper, so the savings might pay for new wheels. You will probably have plenty of possible buyers for your 18s.

Yeah, I like the 18” wheels. It was a part of the upgrade on the ! trim level.
The ride is fine, I just meant that between a true sports handling stiff ride tire and a more cushy ride, I would do the cushy one now.
My days of sports driving are mostly over now, but there was a time…….

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

Quote
rgG
Any suggestions for tires?

I highly recommend ROUND tires!

I got a great deal on some eBay non-round tires and that was a BIG mistake!

OMG. She's asking for tire recommendations and you are steering him towards different sized WHEELS on a Kia Soul.


On top of the extra expense, the speedo will be off, good or bad, depending on the tire chosen.

So I'd stick with the factory wheels.


I haven't used TireRack in years, but it was great.

I ordered a full set of rims and tires, Goodyear NCT Eagles and Borbet rims.

Tire Rack gave me a great price and shipped them mounted with all the hardware to the Post Office.

Put them on and drove to a local guy who balanced them for a small fee.

What a painless experience.


A Vredestein tire is becoming a popular choice for some riders who put car tires on their big bikes.

Not a choice for sport bikes, but they seem to work well on tourers and sport-tourers like mine.

I just don't rack up the miles like I used to, to merit a change.

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I am that Masked Man.

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There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

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We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
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At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

Don't overlook eBay dealers, just factor in the cost for mounting.

Regardless of where you buy, the batteries in your TPMS are usually only good for five years. If you are around that time or will be while those tires are on the car, you will want to consider changing them while the tires are off the rims.

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“No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong.” -- François de La Rochefoucauld

"Those who cannot accept the past are condemned to revise it." -- Geo. Mathias

The German word for contraceptive is “Schwangerschaftsverhütungsmittel”. By the time you finished saying that, it’s too late

Quote
Ombligo
Don't overlook eBay dealers, just factor in the cost for mounting.

Regardless of where you buy, the batteries in your TPMS are usually only good for five years. If you are around that time or will be while those tires are on the car, you will want to consider changing them while the tires are off the rims.

Yep, I thought about that when it was mentioned in another thread.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

Quote
RAMd®d
OMG. She's asking for tire recommendations and you are steering him towards different sized WHEELS on a Kia Soul.


On top of the extra expense, the speedo will be off, good or bad, depending on the tire chosen.

So I'd stick with the factory wheels.

Not that I'm recommending a wheel change, but it's quite possible to have different diameter wheels, yet still have the same outer diameter of the tire. I know of cars that ship with either 17" or 19" wheels depending on trim level, and have a spare with a 16" wheel, and all three of the tires have essentially the same outer diameter (by using wider or narrower sidewalls).

Don't overlook eBay dealers, just factor in the cost for mounting.

How do you know you don't get old stock? At Costco the tires sell like hotcakes and it's unlikely you get old stock. Yes, I do not want to get 2-3 year old tires even if they were stored inside. Rubber still degrades with time.

Also at Costco I also shop while they rotate/install my tires. I cannot do that at discount tire or other places.

For me it's always Costco.

I should add - yes, I recommend tires

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I like Discount Tires.

I had firestones and they were the worst tires I've ever had. Terrible in every way they could be (loud, bad handling, didn't last, bad in wet, snow, etc.).

I have Vredestein now and they are better in every way. Quiet, very good in the snow, good grip in the dry and seem to be wearing well. Mine have a very V-shaped tread pattern that is better than most tires in the snow without being snow tires, but they're great not in the snow too. They are very smooth, ride wise. My impression is that they are really good tires. They have a good sidewall, so when you corner hard they don't roll over

I always go with Bridgestone or Michelin.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

but it's quite possible to have different diameter wheels, yet still have the same outer diameter of the tire.


I know that dance all too well.

The set I mentioned was a 17" upgrade from 15" factory.

The new rims were a little wider so I had to choose tires for the width but ensure then weren't too tall to fit or skew the speedo, or stuck out of the wheel wells.

Then I had to hope the nominal size of the tire was reasonably close to Goodyear's listed spec.

So I say stick with factory kit in this case.

I don't know if the current setup is a bother for rg, but certainly she doesn't seem to want a tire with a stiffer sidewall harsher ride that whatever is there now.

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

We just got 4 new Michelins at Costco for $613 out the door. The VW did have Bridgestones from the factory and subsequently the dealer and there was a lot of road noise and they didn't wear well.

The Bridgestones are very quiet.

The 80,000 mile Michelins come with the usual Costco package of free tire rotation, road-hazard, Nitrogen, etc. The free tire rotations make quite a difference to the total cost of ownership.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I appreciate it.
Now I have lots of homework to do.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

How do you know you don't get old stock? At Costco the tires sell like hotcakes and it's unlikely you get old stock. Yes, I do not want to get 2-3 year old tires even if they were stored inside. Rubber still degrades with time.

First question I'd ask is to see the date codes on the tires. It's still no guarantee of how they've been stored, but it's one more piece of info they should be happy to provide.

Quote
chopper

Quote
Rolando
You might consider going with a smaller wheel, even a 16" or 17". You will be able to get taller sidewalls which usually result in a smoother ride.

Additionally, 16"/17" tires are usually cheaper, so the savings might pay for new wheels. You will probably have plenty of possible buyers for your 18s.

OMG. He's asking for tire recommendations and you are steering him towards different sized WHEELS on a Kia Soul.

That's because MRF is a FULL SERVICE forum!

For me, it’s about tread, longevity, and national service. The Michelin defenders I put on the Toyota RAV/4 are awesome in all weather.

rGC,

See my post to this thread:

<[forums.macresource.com];

I've since replaced the tires on my Mazda and will shortly replace the tires in my wife's Yaris but the advice remains the same.

Robert

We've re-tired a couple of times from CostCo and have never been unhappy. Longest wait I've had in our very busy neck of the woods, 15 mins.
YMMD.

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!#$@@$#!

Nolite manducare flavo.

My winning combo now is purchase at TireRack. There almost always a sale or closeout on a name brand tire.
Then install at Discount Tire (which I believe now owns TireRack or some other sort of deal). Super convenient scheduling, quick service.

Costco and Discount Tire are who I recommend for the Atlanta area. I've had good experiences with each. Discount Tire will often match Costco prices.

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DavidS
Costco and Discount Tire are who I recommend for the Atlanta area. I've had good experiences with each. Discount Tire will often match Costco prices.

Thanks for the local info.
I have never used Discount Tire, but I need to check them out.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)